There has been some rioting in Atambua, West Timor, over the execution of Fabianus Tibo, Dominggus Da Silva and Marianus Riwu.

Thousands of people in Atambua, Belu, West Timor, Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT), have come out onto the streets to protest the execution of the three Catholic men. The offices of the Attorney General have been burned down and one report says that the homes of people in a certain area, likely a Muslim populated one, have been attacked. The main Atambua market has also been burned down and all roads leading into and out of the town have been blocked by protestors. The protests began at about 6am but by about 11am the situation had calmed.

A prison in the town was also attacked and 190 inmates were thereby able to escape. Another 15 decided to stay put.

Meanwhile in Sulawesi some roads in and around the Christian town of Tentena, near Poso, were blocked by protestors who set old car tyres alight. People also occupied the main police station in the town. This apparently began at 06.30. Cars coming along the road were stopped by protestors but usually allowed to pass. At some point during the day the demonstrators were addressed by pastor Renaldy Damanik who managed to get them to go home.

In Maumere, Sikka regency, Flores island, NTT, the state courthouse building was burnt down at around 18.30. Maumere is where Dominggus Da Silva originates from and protestors were apparently angry that da Silva's last request, that he be buried in his hometown, was initially refused by the Central Sulawesi government. Da Silva has no relatives in Sulawesi. Now it appears the regional government in Sikka is offering to fly his family to Palu to fetch his remains.

In other reactions to the executions Lombardi, the spokesman for Pope Benedict XVI, said that the carrying out of the sentences was a "defeat for humanity".

7 Comments on “Atambua Protests”

Yup, riots now can’t bring them to life anyway, hopefully they won’t make another riot, like burn the Muslim villages or whatever, becos those Muslim village people aren’t the ones who decided to execute Tibo cs, it’s the government’s game, the rich politicians who use poor illiterate people like Tibo cs who can’t fight them.

God knows the truth, and they who must pay will pay. Let’s show them how good person should act, let Tibo cs go peacefully, God bless them.

A sad day for Human Rights in Indonesia, when there were still so many unexplained irregularities in the trail, to carry out a death sentence is unforgivable. Was this really a matter of justice or was it a way of preventing justice?

Why is human life so cheap to the Puppet Masters? Do they have no conscience? Does their greed and hunger for power and money blind them to Gods existence and the price they will have to pay on Judgement Day?